LCD Projection Panels

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zzzBrett

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Joined 2006
#1
Hi,

I am very new to the DIY projector idea. I have seen many tutorials and walkthroughs with various methods on how to make one of these. My plan is to use this as a home theatre type projector, mainly used to watch movies.

The method using an overhead projector and an LCD Projection Panel seems most appealing to me, because of the ease of putting it together. I'm not so comfortable taking apart one of my LCD monitors, and it seems fairly expensive to order all of the necessary lenses to use the other method.

My main question is which projection panels are OK to use? I've searched around, but I find many panels on ebay and such that aren't mentioned here at diyAudio yet.

As mentioned here:
http://www.denguru.com/2004/11/13/supersize_your_tv_for_/page4.html

I should have at least an 800x600 resolution. Is this correct? Under suitability, it says partialy suitable. Is this still OK?

What other criteria should be considered when buying an LCD projection panel? How much should I except to spend on one of these panels to have OK movie / video quality?

Thanks in advance!
Brett
 
#3
Hey Bret,
If keeping your costs at a minimum is very important then a projection panel will give your a decent big screen picture . The lower end panels 640 x 480 are really pretty decent when used with movies. They are not that good for hardcore gaming. Of course stripping a modern LCD panel with higher resolution, contrast ratio and response time will give you an overall better picture. There is the possibility that you could break the LCD during stripping and have nothing to show for your investment. If you strip an LCD then you need to plan on how you will cool it and protect the electronics from dust and abuse.

I have a website that has pictures of the projected image from a Proxima 810 projection panel at 640 x 480 @ 60 hz 296,000 colors using the VGA input and pictures of the images projected by a Proxima 944 at 1024 x 768 @75hz millions of colors using the RCA input. You can see that the Proxima 810 has very watchable movies.

I also have pictures of a stripped LCD panels projected images.

You can decide for your self
http://mysite.verizon.net/yub_yump/index.htm
 
#4
I agree, the dissassembling the LCD seems a bit risky.

A few of my current options for these projection panels are:

PV820
Promixma Ovation 846
QA-350
QA-1150

Out of these, and looking on your site, it seems my best option would be the PV820. It has the highest resolution and colors. Lets hope these don't leave my price range..but I'm thinking it will 🙁.

But would either of the QA's be good?
What is the minimal # of colors I should look for? I see they range from a couple thousand to 17+ million.

Thanks,
Brett
 
#5
Forget the QA 350 it is passive matrix. The Proxima 846 would work well for most projection. The Powerview 820 would also work well, but make sure that you can get the proper VGA cable, it uses the cable wizard. Also, the PV 820 comes in 2 different models , one with RCA connections and one without RCA. The QA 1150 is another decent low end panel, but it requires the remote control to change input signals.

The Proxima panels have higher contrast ratios (100-200:1) than all the Sharp panels even the Sharp QA 2500 ( 60:1). The Powerview panels don't specify their contrast ratios in their manuals, they probably average 60-100:1.

For decent viewing of movies the panels with under 300,000 colors do a pretty good job with RCA input. Vga input you get some posterization . Video games are definately playable but have some posterization at those colors.

Good examples of posterization
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/posterization.htm

For inexpensive big screen movies the low end panels work. If gaming is big with you then stay away from the low end panels
 
#6
Hey Cookie,
Thanks for the explanations.

How do I know if I can get the "Proper VGA Cable"? I thought all VGA cables had the same pinout..

The Proxima 846 is up to $130 (with shipping). You said it would work well for most projection -- that sounds great for me. I'll mainly be watching movies on this projector, but it'd be nice to do some gaming every now and then as well. The 846 has 16.7M colors, so that seems enough without much posterization. But $130 is really on the high end of my price range, and it will probably go up by the time the auction is over.

Oh, and what do you think about the Ovation [A?] 822c? Would it be OK with movies and/or gaming? It has 2M colors, fair response time, and 200:1 contrast ratio, so as far as I can tell it looks pretty good. I might be able to get one of those much cheaper.

Thanks again,
Brett
 
#8
zzzBrett said:
How do I know if I can get the "Proper VGA Cable"? I thought all VGA cables had the same pinout.
Click to expand...


Alot of the Projector panels have a proprietary VGA plug that is unique to that brand ( Sharp, Infocus) If it does, you can't just plug a hd15 plug in like almost ever modern day monitor. 🙂

Zaner21
 
#11
Zaner21 is right about the VGA cables. The wiring to the pins have to match the panels connectors exactly. There is not an off the shelf cable that will work . The VGA cable is only important if you are going to use your Puter as the input device. If you use a DVD player or Xbox then the RCA connections will be all that you need. I had a Proxima 822 and the picture output is better than the 810 because of the increase in colors and the LCD is actually bigger than the 810 so you get more light thru the panel. The 820 has RCA video input where the 810 doesn't. During gaming because of the response times of the panels you get some minor movement in objects, mostly walls, sort of like a sparkling. I don't know how else to describe it. It usually is more apparent when the character goes inside a building. It doesn't effect the game playing at all and most times you don't notice it, but it is there. You can still pop a cap in somebodies *** with the sniper rifle with the 3' wide reticle.

You don't move the OHP to focus it. There is a knob on the bar that holds the lens that is turned to move the lens up and down to focus.
You will have to move the OHP front or back to get the size image you want. At 11 feet back your image will be huge. to get a 60" image you will need to be at 6-8' from the screen.

don't scrimp on the lumen output of the OHP, even if you have to spend a little bit more money. Get at least 3500 lumens. I use a 5000 lumen now and I am pleased with it.

The screen is important also. Blackout cloth is an inexpensive very good screen to use. It improves the sharpness and brightness of the image. here is a link to order blackout cloth at $5.95 a yard 54" wide. If you order 2 yards that will give you a screen 54 x 72 and with shipping it will be under 20 bucks. I ordered from here and they shipped the same day.

http://housefabric.com/ProductDetail.asp?ProductID=848
 
#12
If you need to have a cable made for a panel, there is a guy that makes a lot of different types with the correct pinouts. He sells them on ebay. I ordered some from him and they worked like a charm plus he guarantees them. His prices are reasonable , shipping is very reasonable and he answers emails quickly. His user id is "skywayflies". here is the link to his profile

http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback&userid=skywayflies&item=-1&frm=285
 
#13
Great! These replies are so detailed, thanks a lot!

I'm looking at the projection panels right now on ebay.
I see a 3M 6400 and QA-1650, both look like good quality and in my price range.

The QA-1650 has RCA and S-video inputs.
The 6400 includes a "VGA cable", as well as a "video cable". I guess its not the standard VGA as discussed before, and not sure what the seller means by the video cable - (it could be anything that transmits video, right?). I think I can convert my VGA video signal from my computer to RCA with a few dongles i'll dig up.

So I've looked both of their specs on http://members.cox.net/rolm/results.html
and they both look like they'll work perfectly for me.

I'm excited, I just hope they don't get too high, or I'll have to wait for the next one to come around 🙁.

Thanks for the info, I'll keep you updated.
Brett
 
#17
Cookie,

Just to let you know, if you find someone that is stuck for a computer cable for their Infocus Powerview 820 panel, it can use the Cablewizard II Lite, PN 210-0095-00. It will give you the video, but no audio. It works for a PC but not a Mac.

The Infocus store used to still carry them as of 3 months ago, but no more. I put the part number 210-0095-00 into froogle and found a bunch for $8.72 and up.

Tgreenwood
 
#19
Hey Cookie,
I found and bidded on an Apollo OHP (5000 Lumens).
I was surprised that I was the only bidder, as I got it for 49.99.

Maybe you can take a look at it and make sure its what I need.
Ebay Item # 290018692731

I assume it'll come in in a few days.
The seller stated it was in excellent condition, etc, so we'll see 🙂.

Thanks!
Brett
 
#20
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